Sit on the fence long enough and you'll get splinters

I must say that I am an absoloutely terrible decision maker. When it comes down to two options, I can too easily see both sides of an argument and see that they both are valid and both have merit.

When visiting Amsterdam last weekend, we were bombarded by the plethora of "coffee houses" (to get hash/weed) and "smart shops" (for your magic mushrooms) - as well as sex shops and red light district stuff - that dotted the city centre. [Sidenote: Interesting names for the stores! As our tour guide was saying "don't go to coffee houses to get coffee, and don't go to smart shops to get smart".] If you didn't know before, prostitution and marijuana has been made legal in Holland.

Anyway, re: legalising marijuana, they are convinced in Holland, that by doing so they have caused a reduced demand for so called "hard drugs" (presumably your cocaine, heroin etc). In that sense legalisation has worked. They apparently are also the pioneers of the safe needle exchange, and methadone programs. They do also have a very friendly/helpful population and despite the festive nature of the weekend (and the incredibly heavy drinking) their were very few incidents of violence.

On the other hand, I can't help but think that there is something wrong with the attitude of "if we can't stop it, let's just legalise it so that it's no longer illegal". Is it better to have a higher proportion of people smoking hash, then a lesser proportion of people on soft and hard core drugs? Is hash (socially not acceptable) only as bad as alcohol (socially acceptable)? Is getting stoned the same as getting drunk?

[sidenote #2: i recently heard that a friend of mine has begun working at a tobacco company - another potential fence-sitting situation. It's a job, someone's got to do it, the money's good - on the other hand, i did a good job, millions more are smoking and dying now, i affect kids as well as people that buy my products .... hmm, not sure if i could deal with that. do we have an onus to not just live and work, but to contribute to the good of society?]

Weird place amsterdam ... very pretty, incredible canals, beautiful tulip fields and countryside. The general attitude of the country of - "if it doesn't harm anyone else, it's fine" - has led to a loosening of morals and things that were once taboo are no longer.

Nice place to visit, poss tooo loose to live in.